Automatic ticket gate

ABSTRACT

This invention comprises an automatic ticket gate which permits a passenger to pass therethrough only when the ticket he inserted into the slot of the gate for examination of its validity has been recognized as valid. A passenger is prevented from passing through until the ticket is removed from the slot in the gate, even when the ticket is recognized as valid.

u allow our Inventor Keisuke Osaki [56] References Cited Kyoto, Japan 21] 703m 015 087 izll zi gc i PATENTS 340/149 [22] Filed Fetus, 1968 3, orman 9 [45] Patented May 18 1971 3,229,074 1/1966 l-lamngton 340/14 (X) [73] Assignee Omron Tateisi Electronics Co. Primary Examiner-Donald J. Yusko Kyoto, Japan Assistant Examiner-Michael Slobasky [32] Priority Feb. 6, 1967 AttorneyChristensen, Sanbom & Matthews [33] Japan [31] 42-7532 [54] GATE ABSTRACT: This invention comprises an automatic ticket mg gate which permits a passenger to pass therethrough only [52] US. Cl 340/149 when the ticket he inserted into the slot of the gate for ex- [5 1] Int. G07f 7/00 amination of its validity has been recognized as valid. A pas- [50] Field of Search 340/149 senger is prevented from passing through until the ticket is (A) (Inquired); 235/(lnquired), 61.11; removed from the slot in the gate, even when the ticket is z l94/(Inquired) recognized as valid.

1 AUTOMATIC ncxsr GATE This invention provides an automatic ticket gate which permits a passenger to pass therethrough only when the ticket he inserted into the slot of the gate for examination of its validity has been recognized as valid and then pulled out of the slot by the passenger.

There is known an automatic ticket gate which is designed so as to permit a passenger to pass therethrough by opening a normally closed gate-bar or the like only when the ticket inserted by the passenger has been recognized as valid. If the gate is an entrance gate, the ticket once inserted into the slot has to be returned to its owner passing through the gate. It often happens, however, that the passenger forgets to pull his ticket out of the slot. Although ordinary tickets are collected at an exit gate so as not to be returned to the passengers, commutation tickets must be returned to their owners at an exit gate, too. Therefore, with commutation tickets, the same problem as with ordinary tickets at an entrance gate arises at both an entrance and an exit gate. In the following description, the tenn ticket" is used to mean an ordinary ticket, a commutation ticket and the like.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an automatic ticket gate which prevents-a passenger from passing therethrough unless he pulls his ticket out of the slot of the gate he inserted it into for examination of its validity even when the ticket has been recognized as valid.

Other objects of the invention with its features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an automatic ticket gate embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a mechanism contained in the ticket gate of FIG. 1 when used as an entrance gate, including means for punching the ticket;

FIG. 3 schematically shows a controlmechanism for the turnstile shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control circuit for the mechanisms shown in FIGS. 1 and 3; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a modification of FIG. 4.

There is shown in FIG. 1 a ticket gate comprising a pair of parallel side structures 1 and l defining therebetween a gateway to or from, say, a platform of a railway station. Let it be assumed that the gate is used as an entrance gate. Passengers are supposed to pass through the gate in the direction of an arrow X. As they enter the gate, they insert a ticket 50 into a slot 2 formed in the top wall of the side structure 1. The gate is also provided with a turnstile 3 normally closing the gateway.

lust inside the slot 2, there are provided with a pair of rollers 4 and 4 in frictional contact with each other. The roller 4' is mounted on a rod 5 adapted to act on a limit-switch 5. The ticket 50 that has been inserted through the slot pushes the rollers 4 and 4 apart thereby moving the rod 5 lengthwise rightward in the FIG., so that the switch 5 is actuated to energize a motor, not shown. When energized, the motor rotates rollers 6 and 7 clockwise. The rollers 6 and 7 are in frictional contact with rollers 8 and 9, respectively, so that the inserted ticket is drawn downward by the two pair of rollers.

Between the vertically spaced pairs of rollers 6, 8 and 7, 9 there is provided a device 10 for reading the information such as the period of availability, the range of journey, etc. recorded on the ticket as it passes thereby. The device may for example be a magnetic reading head. The information read by the reading head 10 is tested with respect to its validity by a suitable device, not shown, and upon recognition of the validity of the ticket inserted a signal appears at a terminal A2 in FIG. 4. At the same time, a solenoid 11 in FIG. 2 is energized for a short period of time so as to pull in a plunger rod 12. This causes a lever 13 connected to the outer end of the plunger rod to be tilted counterclockwise about a pivot pin 13'. The roller 9 is mounted on a lever 14 pivotable about a pin 14'. The counterclockwise tilting of the lever 13 causes the lever 14 to be turned clockwise about the pin 14' so that the roller 9 thereon is moved away from the opposite roller 7, whereupon the rollers 7 and 9 release the ticket they pinch between themselves, thereby letting it to gravitate onto a cutter 16. The ticket on the cutter, however, has its upper edge positioned at a height ready to be nipped again by the rollers 7 and 9 in the manner to be described below.

When the ticket is recognized as valid, a solenoid 15 is also energized so that the cutter is turned counterclockwise about a pin 17 so far as the cutter cuts or clips part of the lower edge of the ticket and at the same time actuates a microswitch 18, whereupon the rollers 6 and 7 are rotated counterclockwise. With the solenoid 11 having been deenergized to restore the roller 9 to the original position to nip the ticket between itself and the roller 7, the counterclockwise rotation of the rollers 7 and 6 moves the ticket upward. During the course of the upward movement, the ticket again moves the rod 5' to actuate the switch 5, which is restored when the ticket has been pulled out of the slot 2 by its owner.

Upon restoration of switch 5 a differentiated pulse signal appears at a terminal Al. This signal is used to operate the circuit shown FIG. 4 or 5 on the one hand and to stop the rotation of the rollers 6 and 7 and restore the cutter 6 on the other hand.

As shown in detail in FIG. 3, the turnstile 3 comprises a disc 20 and three arms 3' secured to a shaft 21 journaled in the disc. When the arms 3' are rotated, the shaft 21 is rotated. Upon rotation of the arms 3' the gate is opened in a wellknown manner. A ratchet wheel 23 is secured to the shaft for rotation therewith. A pawl 24 pivoted as at 27 onthe disc 20 engages the teeth of the wheel 23 to prevent the rotation of the shaft 21. When a solenoid 25 is energized as will be described later, it pulls in a plunger 26 thereby to pivot the pawl 24 clockwise to disengage from the wheel tooth, thereby releasing the lock on the shaft 21. Under the condition, the passenger can move the turnstile with his hands to open the gate. Another pawl 28 pivoted at 29 on the disc 20 engages the ratchet wheel 22 for prevention of reverse (counterclockwise) rotation of the shaft 21.

When the turnstile and consequently the shaft 21 is rotated clockwise, the pawl 28 is pivoted counterclockwise about the pin 29, thereby actuating a microswitch 30, whereupon a signal appears at a terminal A3 in FIG. 4. The appearance of this signal at the terminal A3 is considered to indicate that the passenger has now passed through the gate. When the switch 30 has been actuated, the solenoid 25 is deenergized as will be described later, so that the pawl 24 is returned by a spring 24' to engage into the next one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 23, thereby locking the turnstile again.

Now turning to FIG. 4, the signal appearing at the terminal A2 when the ticket inserted has been recognized as valid is applied as a set input to a flip-flop 31, the set output from which is applied as one input to an AND element 32. To the other input of the AND element is applied the signal appearing at the terminal A1 when the switch 5 is restored for the second time by pulling the inserted ticket out of the slot 2 after the ticket is recognized as valid, as previously mentioned. When AND element 32 receives the two input signals in this manner, it produces an output to be applied as a set input to a flip-flop 34 through a differentiator 33. The set output from the flipflop 34 appears at a terminal A4, which energizes the solenoid 25 in FIG. 3 for releasing the lock on the turnstile. Thus, it is only when the ticket inserted has been pulled out by the passenger after it was recognized as valid that the passenger is allowed to pass through the gate. In other words, the passenger is not allowed to pass through the gate unless he pulls out his ticket from the slot even when the ticket has been recognized as valid.

When the differentiated pulse signal at the terminal A1 has presently disappeared, the output from the AND element 32 disappears and at the same time a NOT element 35 produces an output, which is applied through a differentiator 36 to the flip-flop 31 to. reset the same. When the turnstile has been turned by the passenger passing through the gate, the switch 30 is actuated to produce a signal at the terminal A3, which is ditferentiated by a differentiator 37 and resets the flip-flop 34, thereby removing the signal 34 from the terminal A4. This means that the solenoid 25 has been deenergized to lock the tumstile again.

If the ticket gate is for commutation tickets only, the cutter l6, solenoid 15, switch 18, solenoid ll and lever 13 are not required. In this case, when the commutation ticket comes between the two pair of rollers 6, 8 and 7, 9, the information on the ticket is read and tested, and the signal produced upon recognition of the validity of the ticket may be used to rotate the rollers 6 and 7 in the reverse direction so as to move the ticket upward.

In FIG. 3 the switch 30 is provided to detect the passage of a passenger through the gate. Many other devices may be employed for the same purpose. For example, one of the gateway defining side structures in FIG. 1 may be provided with a light source projecting alight beam onto a photosensitive element provided on the other structure, so that when a passenger intercepts the light beam, the output from the photosensitive element changes. This change may be used to provide a signal at the terminal A3 in FIG. 4.

In FIG. 4, the resetting of the flip-flop 34, that is, the relocking of the tumstile after the passenger has passed through the gate is effected by the application of the signal to the terminal A3 through utilization of the switch 30. In FIG. 5, however, the output from the AND element 32 is utilized through a timer 41 for the same purpose. The delay time provided by the timer 41 is set substantially equal to the time required for the passenger to pass the tumstile after he pulls out his ticket from the slot. When the passenger has pulled out his ticket from the slot, the flip-flop 34 is set as previously mentioned, thereby unlocking the tumstile and after lapse of the time set by the timer 41, during which the passenger has passed the tumstile, the flip-flop 34 is reset thereby locking the turnstile again. In FIG. 5, the switch 30 in FIG. 3 or the photosensitive device for detecting passage of passengers through the gate are not required.

Having illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention, it is understood that they are merely representative and that there are many changes and modifications within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

I. An automatic ticket gate in which tickets each having a predetermined information recorded thereon are used for passage therethrough, comprising: means for temporarily receiving a ticket from a passenger who intends to pass through said gate; means for testing the information of said ticket in said receiving means with respect to its validity to produce a first signal when said information has been recognized as valid; means for producing a second signal when said ticket has been removed from said receiving means; and means operable in response to said first and second signals to permit passage of said passenger through said gate.

2. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said passage permitting means includes means for detecting passage of said passenger through said gate to provide a third signal and means operable in response to said third signal to restore the original condition of said passage permitting means.

3. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said passage permitting means includes means receiving said second signal to produce a third signal after a predetermined period of time required for said passenger to pass through said gate and means operable in response to said third signal to restore the original condition of said passage permitting means.

4. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said tickets are ordinary tickets.

5. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said tickets are commutation tickets.

6. The automatic ticket gate of claim 4, further including means for cutting part of said ticket.

7. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said second signal 'producing means produces said second signal when said ticket has been picked up by said passenger from said receiving means.

8. The automatic ticket gate of claim 2, wherein said passage permitting means includes a member capable of selectively taking a first condition under which it closes said gate and a second condition under which it opens said gate, said member being normally under one of said conditions and changed in response to said first and second signals from said one condition to the other; and wherein said third signal responsive means causing said member to change from said other condition back to said one condition.

9. The automatic ticket gate of claim 8, wherein said member normally is under said first condition.

10. The automatic ticket gate of claim 8, wherein said member normally is under said second condition.

11 The automatic ticket gate of claim 8, wherein said member is a gate bar.

12. The automatic ticket gate of claim 8, wherein said member is a tumstile. 

1. An automatic ticket gate in which tickets each having a predetermined information recorded thereon are used for passage therethrough, comprising: means for temporarily receiving a ticket from a passenger who intends to pass through said gate; means for testing the information of said ticket in said receiving means with respect to its validity to produce a first signal when said information has been recognized as valid; means for producing a second signal when said ticket has been removed from said receiving means; and means operable in response to said first and second signals to permit passage of said passenger through said gate.
 2. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said passage permitting means includes means for detecting passage of said passenger through said gate to provide a third signal and means operable in response to said third signal to restore the original condition of said passage permitting means.
 3. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said passage permitting means includes means receiving said second signal to produce a third signal after a predetermined period of time required for said passenger to pass through said gate and means operable in response to said third signal to restore the original condition of said passage permitting means.
 4. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said tickets are ordinary tickets.
 5. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said tickets are commutation tickets.
 6. The automatic ticket gate of claim 4, further including means for cutting part of said ticket.
 7. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said second signal producing means produces said second signal when said ticket has been picked up by said passenger from said receiving means.
 8. The automatic ticket gate of claim 2, wherein said passage permitting means includes a member capable of selectively taking a first condition under which it closes said gate and a second condition under which it opens said gate, said member being normally under one of said conditions and changed in response to said first and second signals from said one condition to the other; and wherein said third signal responsive means causing said member to change from said other condition back to said one condition.
 9. The automatic ticket gate of claim 8, wherein said member normally is under said first condition.
 10. The automatic ticket gate of claim 8, wherein said member normally is under said second condition. 11 The automatic ticket gate of claim 8, wherein said member is a gate bar.
 12. The automatic ticket gate of claim 8, wherein said member is a turnstile. 